Jeremy Pruitt explains just how hard it is to scheme against Alabama’s unstoppable offense
By Andrew Olson
Published:
First-year Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt got his first big win with the Volunteers, knocking off then-No. 21 Auburn in Week 6 30-24 on the Plains. For Pruitt’s squad, the good news is that they return home in Week 7. The bad news is it’s to face No. 1 Alabama, a team that has been practically unstoppable on offense so far this season.
Pruitt joined the weekly SEC media teleconference Wednesday to talk about the win over Auburn and preview the Third Saturday in October game.
Here’s some of what he had to say:
On the team’s play vs. Auburn, how satisfied are you?
I’ve seen for six weeks in a row, our team has improved. We were very poor but we still aren’t great, I can assure you that… We don’t have a lot of depth, we have to play a bunch of guys at multiple spots, which isn’t good for guys without experience… we have a long ways to go. I was happy to see our players get a chance to get a win against a good opponent.
On Alontae Taylor:
Alontae has a lot of ability, he has a long ways to go before being the type of corner he wants to be, and the I want him to be… He’s one of the best players we have at that spot, he’s probably playing when he’s not ready but he’s learning on the go… they’ll probably be some more teaching moments this week.
On changing positions:
well, when he got here, he wanted to be a WR for 8 practices then we moved him but I’m not sure he got better because his heart wasn’t in it… over the summer that changed and now he’s got 6 games in at CB and he continues to improve.
On what he learned at Alabama as an assistant:
Everywhere I’ve coached, my goal is to help the players get what they want… that’s why I got into this, to help them… you build a relationship when you are invested in something… there’s good times and tough times when you build… I have good relationships with the guys at Bama, just like at FSU, Georgia, high school and here at Tennessee.
On QB Jarrett Guarantano:
I think he gets better every week, he gains confidence. The QB has to know the entire offense.. as the season has gone on, he’s grown. Is he where he needs to be? absolutely not but he would be the first to tell you that… you can’t be making many mistakes at that position.
On Alabama scoring on the first drive every game and scheming to prevent that:
Well, if I knew that, I would probably get better sleep at night. You try to scheme for 3rd down, they don’t have any. You try to scheme for red zone, they don’t have any. We are scouting Maryland tape [Alabama OC Mike Locksley’s former team] to study, I’m asking why we got Maryland tape up, they don’t have any short yardage on tape… I’ve coached with Coach Saban for a long time and this may be his best team yet.
On Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa:
It’s hard, we were going against him every day but I was always focused on the defense there… all I can say is, he knows where he is going with the ball, he can extend plays, they have very few negative plays.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
